POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13234, 20 July 1906, Page 7

POLICE COURT NEWS.

Alleged theft at avondale. tlie Police X'ouit yesterday, before ■ ALLEGED Clayton and S. D. Haima, A . r the Police X'ouit yesterday, before Messrs. F. G. Clayton and S. D. Hanna, : J.P.'s. a young man named Henry • Gadd Slfwis charged with : having broken - and enSillfeed the shop of Edwin Charles Sheaf, at i'Xvondiile, and stolen meat valued at £1, MS also a, horse cover. Mr. ,J. R. Lun'don appeared for accused. Sergeant Honppldrv said the shop had been entered on the lip Wrd inst., and the meat stolen. A horse, which was in the back yard, had had the mm cover taken off its back. Evidence, was given by Edwin Charles 'Sheaf to the effect' that accused was in his 4* v < 'shop on the afternoon of the 2nd inst., Plf - and they had a conversation. -On the , > morning" of the 3rd inst. his assistant and «iv he missed beef, pork, mutton, etc., from | ' the shop, valued at about £1. He found ! that one of the windows of the shop had 11 " 'been prized open. He also missed the cover from (lie mare in the yard. On the Ml'si llth inst. witness went to accused's stable, fc ' at Ponsonby, and found the horse cover. In fK" • reply to <■, "question as to where lie secured V'. the" horse cover from accused lcplied he purchased it from a little boy lor a ' shilling. Witness then went to the police station. In reply to Mr. Luridon, wit- ; t ness said he had known accused intimately Viii: foi eight .or nine years, arid knew nothing against him. . Witness presented accused ■V with some meat on the 2nd inst. They also had drinks together, and accused had '■ money. Witness' assistant left the shop ,i on the evening of the 2nd inst. with ac- , cused. ' In reply to Sergeant Hendry, wit- " ' HONS said accused called on him at Avondale v.;'. J' last Monday, and asked what he should do, i", and witness replied he. did not know. Accused said if witness did not put in an ap- ' , ' pearance the case would thrown out. £•■* Accused also suggested that witness should i say lie was doubtful as to the cover being , his, but witness replied he was positive jV - 'it wan his coyer. There were grease and ■; blood marks on the cover, which he had , not noticed before the alleged theft. The •marks could have been produced, he , ' thought, by wrapping meat in'the horse *. , , cover. •- f'; , On the suggestion of the Bench, the 4 ; , charge was reduced to one of ordinary \ theft. The charge of stealing the meat |':l whs also withdrawn, and a plea, of not ! ■ ' guilty entered of stealing the horse cover. ' Constable Williamson gave similar evidence ** '.'"as to the conversation. Accused gave evidence to the effect that ' he purchased the horse cover from a youth, .1 ,who said he picked it up in Archhill gully. The cover was placed in an open stable. ;* ; > The Bench convicted the accused, and . imposed a fine of £1 and costs, in default three months' imprisonment. , A SCENE IN COURT. .' Quite a scene was caused in the Court by •. - the hysterical actions of Clara Hinchley, Y':' 'a middle-aged woman, whilst chaiges of 1 I drunkenness and vagrancy were being heard f: - 1 against her. She gave no evidence on oath, !.V but from the start to finish of the case she ' favoured , the Court with dramatic out- ? bursts. ■ •ifV;.;:.-' .Sergeant Hendry called Constable Boag, f " who gave evidence to the effect that the •'» accused was n public nuisance. "She has the filthiest mouth possible," he continued, ,vf '.and her language at the.police station was I • ■ tlie worst he had heard. She had, to his knowledge, lived an immoral life for the . * .-last 18 mouths. , . , At this stage of the proceedings the accused bufst into tears, and she occupied '• the Court's time for, several minutes. She ' - explained that the police were very cruel 'J by bringing so many witnesses against her. She admitted that she was drunk. . " I had fjf& an influenza cold, Your Worships," she said, and I bought a flask of whisky to drive it V;' i : . away, and to save doctors' expenses." As i an instance of how the police had treated her, she explained that she had been put in the worst cell. She had only been looking '\round the' next morning, and noticed that f all the other cells had benches in them. j Kridence r was . also by; Constable I' Ross -and a detectivk, who corroborated ; - Constable Boag's evidence. - J Sergeant Hendry .said that the accused's convictions dated from 1884. She had been " ' convicted of drunkenness, disorderly con- . duct, assaulting the police, and indecency. She had proved herself to Itp a notorious woman in Dunediij. • . , "In the sight of God, be lenient to me," cried the woman, . ., v i • '• You will have, to go to prison," said Mr. Clayton; "it. is no us<* fining you.-* . You will be sentenced to three months' imprisonment in Mount Eden Gaol." . •-'/ Upon hearing the sentence, the prisoner ' knelt on the floor, with outstretched arms, ; ""'''- but she was quickly removed from the '. Court by two constables. I —~~ ' ' • ||f| - THE ALBERT-STREET CASE. George Mack # a strongly-built young man, j ■was charged with assaulting and robbing j1,;),, 'Oliver Scott, at the back of the Albert i ]' v Hotel, on Monday evening, July 16. ' 4 Sergeant; Hendry applied for >■ remand till Monday .'next, as the man l'urcell, 'who ./was similarly charged,.' had been remanded till that day. The remand was granted.

i. SIX MONTHS FOR BAD LANGUAGE; A young woman named Nellie Green plead.4 ed guilty to having used obscene language in Queen-street on Wednesday evening. |K:: C'hief-Dctecl.Tvo Mamiek said the woman . ,was one of the- unfortunate class. • She had several. times been before, the Court, and • had then been dealt with leniently. • She had .been in the Salvation Army Home. ~•/ '''lie magistrates said they V were deteri y milled to put down this; offence'. It had evidently been of no us: dealing lightly -with the accused, and this time she would , ' be sentenced to six months' imprisonment. ! r ; ' ' SAILORS IN TROUBLE. II Three Swedish seamen were charged with -i .ji destroying a sofa, clock, and a lamp on v,' the barque Endyinion. 'I , On Sergeant Hendry's application, the ,-~ case, Was adjourned till half-past ten a.m. j|*i * THE EXTRADITION .'CASK. David Moon, who had been remanded for ft week on a charge .of stealing £100, the ' ■ property .of the Operative Bakers' Assamlidn, of Sydney, was further remanded for f ?-Week, on ■ Chief-Detective Marsack's up;:"fi plication, as the original warrant had not jj| yet arrived from Sydney. " APPLICATION" FOR prohibition - .'i ORDER. /.V .£& On his wife's application, a prohibition . - Wt » ej ' was, issued against Alexander Wilson. DRUNKENNESS. , ■'.Patrick Lynch, a prohibited person and 1 • 9 third offender within six months, was charged with drunkenness. ' Ho pleaded , ■ ?Witjr, and was fined 50s, or in default one M»h a imprisonment. Arthur Henry '' iaylor pleaded guilty to a similar charge, V; - ;J an s| ' a * fined 10s, or m default 48 hours; 1 s m\ ' %lrV a » se!lmun . ' r!im the Corinthic was conrJl''*®" £, hd discharged on the payment of ?1 yd cub hire. 1 * i - v . ; . '■ - . ,• •' •